chaos_gurl@JPM:SweetS is breaking up because Aya and Aki are going to concentrate with their school stuff. I never thought I'd really believe in this reason for the first time lol. But I think this is true.

I think Haruna, Mai, and Miori will still be around tho. I dunno what they will do. But if they are going to be as serious as Aya and Aki with school later this year, I see no point in sticking around.

The 9th Soul@JPM: As chaos_gurl mentioned on the previous page, this is one of the few times you SHOULD believe that members will be concentrating on their studies. Accusing this decision on low sales or bad production since their first few singles and mini album is baseless considering that 2/3rds of Avex's roster has pretty low sales as well.

Sad news, but I think that this is just as much the girls' decision as it is their managers and label's decision.

rll@JPM: Berryz hasn't won anything cause SweetS are still better than them. Berryz just sells more cause they have the MM fans to buy their stuff. I guess it's natural to compare them cause they came out around the same time and because of age. But seriously, SweetS have better performers (singing and dancing) and better songs. There's just no comparison, they're on a different level.

Okay, here's the only thing I can think off. Haruna, Mai and Miori were bound to take a break to study for their exams too and because of the drop in sales across the board, there was no way for SweetS to survive for several months with just Aya and Aki. So, why not just disband the group, make the fans miss them, have the three study for their exams and then reform the group (same five) after the exams, and make SweetS stage a comeback and be stronger than ever cause it's a new start.

I know that's not gonna happen but hey, I really miss them and that's the only thing positive I can think off. And I guess continuing with their studies is a good thing cause at this point, everything they've done is a gain for them whereas if they miss out on school and not have successful careers, then they would have lost something. Argh, don't know what I'll do without SweetS.

Sephiroth_FF@JPM: That'd be great if it happend but by the time they finish their studies, they might not be interested in this anymore, their style would be completely different if they were and who knows how many people would actually be interested in them. They could gain more fans with a new style but they could very well lose them too.

I wish they wouldn't disband. I wonder if they realize they have fans outside of Japan?

The 9th Soul@JPM: Let me put it like this: most teen J-Pop stars go to a certain school in Tokyo (forget the name) where they really don't have to work hard, they're allowed as much time off as they need, and they could drop out easily without a second thought.

Aki and Aya passed an entrance exam for one of the most prestegious high schools in Tokyo, but unlike "celebrity school" where some others go, the school they applied to is one where they HAVE to devote their primary focuses to their studies - or else they'll fail out before they even start.

People who are still believing it's low sales are either fans just jumping the gun and overreacting too quickly, or people unfamiliar with WHY Aki and Aya took time off in the first place. Two members of Parago and Hinoi Asuka also passed their High School entrance exams, but they're going to that celebrity school that I was talking about, not a school where studying and school work is your ONLY priority.

The 9th Soul@JPM:Actually, their official site's press release is vague, but put A+B together:

At the very same show at LaQua last saturday we got two announcements back to back:

A) Aki and Aya passed their entrance exams into one of the best high schools in Japan! yaaay!

B) Oh yeah, we're disbanding after June.

Makes way more sense than just "we only sold 10k in the first week...we must be getting fired." I'm sure Avex knows that it's incredibly hard these days for female idol groups NOT named Morning Musume, and I'd be willing to bet that at this point they're not holding these girls against not selling in the same range as Kumi or Ayu. In fact, Avex's GB groups don't even get 1/4th as much promotion as some of the other Avex acts, so there's no way they'd be able to sell over a certain amount. I've only seen one advertisement for the recent SweetS single in Tokyo (and this was while watching an Avex program at 1:30 in the morning).

montevi@JPM: The "celeb school" you are talking about would be Horikoshi. (Which is the one the SweetS girls are going again?) You may be right but I still tend to think that they might not have made this decision (or Avex might not have let them, who knows) if they had been bigger sellers.

Sephiroth_FF@JPM:Believe it or not, I've heard many people say how they don't like Hikki's old music and that her new music is actually more enjoyable. Same with BoA. Many people didn't take notice of her until her last four or five singles and they seem to like them better.

As for sales, we're living in a world were you can download just about anything now. It wasn't so easy to download so much music so easily as it is now and many people do that instead of buying. Besides, when Hikki came out with First Love, it was a new style then and that's one of the reasons she sold so well. If she tried it now, it just woudn't work. She may not be selling as well now because so many people are over her now and want to find something different but while she's lost some fans, she's also gained some new ones with her current style. She'll never ever sell as much as she did in the past though.

Monday, February 20, 2006

SweetS Members

All About SweetS!

☆☆☆ Background Info ☆☆☆

In the 2002 Avex auditions, 5 girls aged 12-13 were selected out of a group of hopefuls to form a new group called "SweetS". After a whole year of training, they finally debuted on 27th August 2003 with a single titled LolitA ☆ Strawberry in summer. Their well-developed voices and mesmerizing dance moves quickly garnered the support and admiration of many fans, despite being so young. Voted number 1 in the popular J-Music magazine CD-DATA (beating out various big names like Ootsuka Ai and Nakashima Mika) in November of 2004, they look set for an explosive future in the Japanese music world, and are not to be missed out on if you enjoy pop songs, though they have also branched out into other genres such as techno.

AYAFav. hobby: SnowboardingFav. animal: DogFav. seaon: SummerFav. book: Deep LoveFav. movie: 名探偵コナン (Detective Conan)Nickname: Aya, Aya-neechan (big sister Aya)First thing in the morning: Go to the toiletFav. thing to do during off days: Sleep lateCares about: Family, friendsSchool subject: Social studies, EnglishPlace she wants to visit: AustraliaStrength: Able to persevere to the end in all thingsFirst live concert: SPEEDFav. SweetS song: Peace no Kakera meaning Pieces of Peace (only performed live)Fav. SweetS PV: SkyType of Song she wants to do next: an english song, and she wants to start writing lyrics